


Circus

by writingandchocolatemilk



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternate Universe - Human, Circus, Gen, Humans, Lion Tamer YEAH
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 16:45:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4107913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingandchocolatemilk/pseuds/writingandchocolatemilk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Ladies and gentlemen,” Abel boomed, giving a little bow. “Welcome to Abel’s Circus! You’re in for the most spectacular show today, folks!” There was a smattering of applause. “Ah, well you don’t believe me—“</p>
<p>There came a roar, and suddenly a giant mass threw itself at Abel. The crowd gasped. Half stood to help. Abel ducked, and the lion flew neatly over his head, coming to a skidding halt right in front of the audience. It circled around Abel.</p>
<p>“Sorry about that,” Abel chuckled, shaking his head. “Sometimes Whiskers here gets a little antsy.” The lion let out a low growl, tail flicking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Circus

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [What if the Nordics Were in a Circus?](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/120655) by oikawtf. 



> Abel is Denmark.

Abel stepped out into the ring, smile almost as bright as the floodlight on him. The crowd’s dull roar soon quieted, all eyes on the man in the center of the ring. Abel finished counting a large wad of money and tucked it away in his breast side pocket. He tipped his hat, spinning around to see the expectant faces. His uniform was red and black, and he stood out like a beacon in the middle of the dusty ring.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Abel boomed, giving a little bow. “Welcome to Abel’s Circus! You’re in for the most spectacular show today, folks!” There was a smattering of applause. “Ah, well you don’t believe me—“

There came a roar, and suddenly a giant mass threw itself at Abel. The crowd gasped. Half stood to help. Abel ducked, and the lion flew neatly over his head, coming to a skidding halt right in front of the audience. It circled around Abel.

“Sorry about that,” Abel chuckled, shaking his head. “Sometimes Whiskers here gets a little antsy.” The lion let out a low growl, tail flicking.

Another spotlight illuminated a tall man who had entered the ring. He was playing with the whip in his hands, staring at the lion. Abel clapped his hands together, beckoning the new man to come closer.

“Berwald! Control your creatures,” Abel scolded, gesturing back at the lion.

Berwald lifted his chin slightly. He cracked his whip. Abel flinched and the lion come to a halt behind him.

“Woah, there, Berwald,” Abel let out a nervous laugh, taking a step back. The lion roared behind him.

 “Where’s my money?” Berwald’s voice wasn’t as loud as Abel’s, but the silence of the crowd allowed it to travel easily.

Berwald laughed, looking behind him at the lion. “Hey, easy there, Berwald, I told you, I’ll get it to you as soon as possible.”

The whip cracked again. Two tigers crept into the rink, surrounding Abel. The ringleader laughed, running a hand through his hair. Berwald didn’t look amused.

“There were some, uh, _difficulties_ …” Abel tried.

Another crack of the whip and the giant cats began to move around the ring in a circle. The lion let out another roar, tail flicking. The cats were so close to the audience, someone could reach a hand out and run a hand down their sides.

“Berwald, be reasonable…” Abel laughed, stumbling to the center of the ring.

The lion and tigers began to squeeze closer to Abel. Berwald watched from the sidelines, arm crossed. The lion let out a roar and snapped at Abel.

“Berwald!” A different voice called from the sidelines. A new spotlight turned on, illuminating a young man in a long, trench coat. He strolled into the ring, tutting at Berwald. “This is no way to treat our ring leader,” he scolded lightly.

Berwald looked at his feet before cracking the whip. The cats stopped, looking at Berwald. Berwald gestured with his hands and the cats slipped away out of the ring. One of the tigers brushed up against Berwald before disappearing into the dark.

Abel wobbled over to the new man. “Tino! You’re a lifesaver.”

Tino stepped away from Abel, giving him a sweet smile. “You haven’t paid me, either, Abel. Berwald, would you help me with something?”

The lights cut out. There was a tense silence before a muffled struggle from the middle of the ring.

“Let go of me! Argh—I’ll get your stickin’ money just—“

The lights flicked back on. Abel was strapped to a giant, wooden target. He was laughing, struggling with his bonds. Tino stood nearby, smiling.

“Thank you, Berwald.”

Berwald nodded before exiting the ring. Abel struggled in the middle of the bull’s eye, laughing loudly.

“Tino! Tino, my man, this is ridiculous. I’ll get you your money, I promise!” Abel laughed, tugging at his ties.

Tino looked at the audience, crinkling his nose. “He’s said this about ten time before,” he said, almost apologetic. “He likes to spend his money on… Well…” Tino mimed sipping a beer bottle with his hand. There was a laugh from the audience.  

Tino walked up to Abel. He reached up onto the tip of his toes and patted Abel on the head. He grabbed the side of the target and gave a mighty heave, and it began to spin. Tino walked a few yards away, reaching into his trench coat.

Like lightening, there were five distinct thuds. The audience was confused before Abel let out an unmanly scream. There were five daggers in various spots in the wood surrounding the ring leader.

The audience gaped at Tino, who shrugged at them helplessly. His hand dipped back into his jacket, and five more daggers joined Abel on the spinning target. Abel let out a desperate laugh.

Tino reached inside his coat again, but paused. “Lukas, what are you doing here?”

A new spot light opened on a lithe man was walking on top of the spinning target, stepping on Abel’s head when he spun near. Lukas switched to walking on his hands, then flipped over and resumed walking normally.

“Scaring him won’t work,” Lukas monotoned.

Tino looked at the audience, shaking his head, then back to Lukas. “What do you suggest?”

Lukas didn’t respond. Abel slowly stopped turning, finally coming to a rest upside down. Lukas stomped once on the target and the clasps that held Abel released. He fell into a heap, and then stood up. He brushed himself off and glared at Tino.

Lukas did a neat little flip and landed on Abel’s shoulders, causing the man to topple forward onto his stomach. Lukas rode Abel as he fell forward, hopping off right before the man hit the ground.

“You have to make him suffer,” Lukas answered.

Suddenly, a man dropped from thin air, grabbing Abel by the ankles and disappearing into the dark space above the audience. Tino let out a twinkling laugh, shaking his head as he left the ring.

A trapeze bar slowly descended into the rink. Lukas winked at the audience before grabbing the bar and hoisting himself up and sitting on it. He was whirled into the darkness, leaving the audience to mutter to one another.

Floodlights illuminated the space above the audience. Abel was clutching another trapeze bar, hanging and swinging lightly in the breeze. Lukas and another man were to his left and right on their own bars.

“I gave you all an IOU!” He called, kicking his legs and glaring at the two other men suspended with him. “Lukas! Emil! Get me down from here!”

Lukas began to swing on his bar like he was at a park and not a painful fall from his death. Emil sighed and stood on his bar, frowning at Abel. “I’m afraid the bank doesn’t except IOUs.” He sat backwards, knees supporting him on the bar.

Lukas leapt from his bar to Abel’s. The ring leader let out a yelp, kicking his legs more as Lukas began to rock the bar.

“I’m sure I could arrange a deal with your bank, Emil!” Abel called. His ankles came closer and closer to Emil’s fingers. “After all, I arranged that deal with your brother—“

Lukas stepped on Abel’s fingers. The man yelled and let go of the bar. Emil caught Abel’s ankles, laughing as they flew through the air. Lukas continued to swing on his bar. As Emil and Abel swung toward him, Lukas did another quick flip and grabbed on to Abel’s hands.

The three of them swung through the air like a demented chain. Another arc and Lukas released Abel’s hands and caught the middle bar with one hand, letting out a faint laugh. He adopted a similar position to Emil, knees supporting him.

Emil frowned, tossing Abel to Lukas when he swung near. Lukas caught Abel’s hands.

“I don’t think this is working…” Emil called. “We’ll have to call in the big guns.”

Abel kicked his legs. “Please don’t! Anything but—“

“Will you pay us?”

“I didn’t say that!” Abel yelled as he was tossed back to Emil.

“Big guns it is,” Lukas agreed.

Emil’s bar descended. Abel was dropped a few feet from the center of the ring. The light illuminating the ceiling cut off and Emil disappeared back into the darkness.

Abel stood up and brushed his ruined uniform off, giving an awkward smile at the audience. He opened his mouth to say something. A tomato him square in the face. He whipped around to see two teenagers enter the ring, done up in clown makeup.

“What? Peter, Erland, you too?” Abel gestured toward each boy. “I don’t even _pay_ you guys! You just show up in clown makeup—“

“Well, maybe we _want_ to be paid!” Peter said, rolling another tomato in his hand. “Equal representation!” His clown makeup was painted into a smile, while Erland’s was a frown.

Abel threw his hands in the air and Erland threw another tomato at him. Abel ducked, sticking his tongue out. Peter took a threatening step forward and threw another tomato. Abel took a step back but tripped over a small white dog that stood behind him.

The dog barked and Erland and Peter began to pelt Abel with tomatoes. Abel tried to crawl away as the dog bit at his shoe. The audience erupted into laughter as Abel’s clothes were slowly stripped off by the tiny dog. Abel was left in boxers, covered in tomatoes.

“Fine!” He finally called, accepting his fate. “The money’s in the pocket of my jacket.”

The two boys cheered, high-fiving one another.

The lights cut off. The crowd erupted into cheers, clapping and whistling. The lights turned back on, with the whole cast assembled. The stood in a line and bowed, smiling at the audience.

“Thank you for coming to see Abel’s Circus!” Abel called, looking as confident as he did in the beginning of the show in his boxers.


End file.
